Kate Duval Hughes Inventions Information

Kate Duval Hughes (born June 15, 1837) was an author and inventor.

Kate Duval was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1837. She was of French descent. Her parents were wealthy, and she received a thorough education.

Her father, Peter Stephen Duval, was born in France in 1804/1805. He was a lithographer trained in Paris. In 1831 he was hired by Cephas G. Childs of Philadelphia, and immigrated in the United States. When Childs retired in 1834 he sold his firm to Duval and George Lehman. In 1837 Lehman resigned, and the firm became P. S. Duval's Lithographic Establishment. From 1839 to 1840 Duval became partners of William M. Huddy. Duval is credited with the first color printing in the United States. His color process made him win a silver medal at the Franklin Institute's exhibition in 1849. By the 1850s Duval was operating the major lithographic firm, admitted to the Board of Trade in 1853, the only such firm admitted before the Civil War. Duval's son, Stephen C. Duval, joined the business in 1857. Peter S. Duval retired in 1869 and Stephen C. Duval partnered with Thomas Hunter. Peter S. Duval on February 9, 1886.

After the failure of her marriage and the loss of her fortune, Hughes spent several years in Europe, and after her return to the United States she settled in Washington, D. C, where she secured a position in one of the governmental departments.

She invented two Combined Window-Sash Fasteners and Holders, both of which have been patented. The upper and lower sash of windows could be respectively lowered and raised to a limited extent and secured from further opening from the outside, thus preventing unauthorized persons from gain entrance by increasing the size of the opening either at the top or bottom of the sash.

Hughes was a Roman Catholic, and her three books, Little Pearls (New York, 1876), The Mysterious Castle (Baltimore, 1878), The Fair Maid of Connaught (New York, 1889) and Legends and Tales of the Sierras (1888), were religious in character. Cardinal James Gibbons pronounced a favorable opinion of her works, which were written for younger readers.

In 1890 Hughes discovered the art of extracting the essential oil of frankincense as used by the ancients; she incorporated it into an ointment for skin diseases, which was used in many hospitals.

Kate Duval Hughes's marriage proved an unfortunate one, and the loss of her fortune threw her upon her own resources.

Hughes led a secluded life. Her clerical work and her literary occupations employed her time fully.

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